Builds PZJ70 build-refurbish!? (1 Viewer)

[SNLC]

Blacked out grill, turn signals and mirrors, OEM.



Cheers

 

[curtis65]

View attachment 1637672
View attachment 1637673

Blacked out grill, turn signals and mirrors, OEM.



Cheers

That's a sweet looking 70, love the rim and tire combo

 

[SNLC]

That's a sweet looking 70, love the rim and tire combo

Thanks! I got it in the shop right now, installing some Terrain Tamer vented rotors.



Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Tearing down the interior soon. Going to POR15 the floor and all hollow body panels.

Cheers

 

[curtis65]

Well worth the efforts, good luck with that. Just started prepping mine for the same treatment, interior panels and rear carpets are out, a couple minor spots of metal at the sill corners need a little attention first. going to try and get some more time on it next couple weeks.
Keep up the good work

 

[SNLC]

Happy happy, joy joy!

I been needing these parts for awhile, finally got them.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Terrain Tamer shocks and steering damper getting installed. Thanks @orangefj45 and @wardharris!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Winding down from a long day in the shop working on the truck.


All wiring in the truck ha been gone through now. Any junk I could find was removed, any shoddy connections I have soldered and shrink wrapped. Re-wried head unit and new speaker wire installed. New headlight relay and flasher unit installed as well. I had suspected this truck originally came with fog lights, I confirmed that in my wiring job. However, anything remaining of it I removed, leaving only the plug behind where the switch would go in the dash. I also did a bit of re-wiring at the battery to clean it up.

New OEM o-ring installed on pipe at bottom of P/S pump. It was leaking.

New return spring on the throttle pedal.

Finished rebuilding the front seats with new seat back lean adjusting levers and cables. This after installing new OEM seat back levers-mechanism which can be found on the inside of the seat under the plastic covers.

New "OAK" clam shell installed on steering column.

New e-brake cable installed.

New rear door upper lock and catch. All that is left in rebuilding the rear doors 100% is the lower lock and it's catch, both are in route from Japan right now. Rear doors close oh so nice and latch awesome. No rattling rear doors on this truck!

New idler pulley installed on the engine.

For the front axle, as seen earlier in the thread I fully rebuilt it using all OEM parts when I was with the truck in Latin America. I de-greased but didn't paint anything. Since then I have had flash surface rusting on the front axle and it's parts which really bugs me. Also as mentioned before I had issues with the mounting locations or "ears" on the knuckles for the front disc calipers. Well I got new OEM knuckles and caliper mounting bolts. So I decided to tear it all down and POR15 it all. I also decided to install new TT rotors, rebuild the calipers and I also have all new hardware for the reassembly. I got new studs and nuts for the knuckle, new washers and nuts for the hub and new bolts for the free wheeling hub too. I also got new gaskets for reassembly. I also opted to replace the hard brake line at the calipers, I have already replaced the rubber line here. Oh ya and new bolts for the backing plates on the knuckle. It is going to look real sharp now when I am done with it, another day or two. To finish it off, as mentioned above I am installing new TT shocks and steering damper.

POR15'ing the battery tray I made for the large battery. I am also POR15'ing the air cleaner housing.

I aligned the hood, it is not 100% perfect but only off by about 1/16th of an inch now.

I have a new valve cover gasket to install and also a gasket for where the intake crossover pipe mounts to the intake manifold. I was unable to get these in Latin America so am installing them now.

I have all the parts in hand to go through the oil pressure relief valves and oil check valve. Installing new valves along with new crush washers. Changing the oil too with a new OEM filter.

I replaced a couple vacuum lines with OEM ones and new clamps. I am also installing a new check valve in the vacuum system.

New dome light installed and new door dome light switches installed.

I went through the entire windshield washer system. New cap on jar, new motor/pump, new gasket for pump in jar, new squirters and I re-wired the pump plug with solder and shrink wrap. The system works excellent now!

Few more things in the works but this is most of it. As you can see I been going at it on the truck! Looking forward to the first drive in a few days after all the work.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

In case anyone is wondering, the plastic bushings pictured above part #90386-16007, these are for the rear door (RHS) black plastic handle. They go under the handle so that it is nice and solid and doesn't rub on the body. I bought some spares cause it took me some time to locate these.

It should be obvious but the chrome looking parts above are the trim pieces at the floor of the back door. These parts seem to always be trashed on 70's and they were on mine. I got a new welting for the back door and to finish it off I wanted these trim pieces along with all new mounting hardware.

Cheers

 

[Dprio34]

Ian,
Congrats on getting all of that done! Quite a bit at one swipe!
Just curious did you lube the e- brake cable & the seat recline cable? If so with what?
A lot of people seem to recommend the lube they use on motorcycle cables or chain lube.

Post some pics of all the work!

 

[SNLC]

Ian,
Congrats on getting all of that done! Quite a bit at one swipe!
Just curious did you lube the e- brake cable & the seat recline cable? If so with what?
A lot of people seem to recommend the lube they use on motorcycle cables or chain lube.

Post some pics of all the work!

I used the tiny, tiniest bit of moly grease.

Here is a couple sneak peek pics.

I had some dramas during painting. Poor results on my first round of POR15 so stripped it all again and repainted. This cost me a lot of time. All good now though. The outer axle parts I obviously painted while disassembled, the housing I painted with the suspension attached. Two coats of POR15 and then two coats of their top coat. The calipers I used POR15 caliper paint in silver on top of two coats of POR15. Obviously I still need to rebuild the calipers, I have new bleeders too.

In the past I have used Rust Bullet. Very similar product, honestly neither seems all that much better than the other. I will probably stick with POR15 in the future though, local auto paint supply shop has it on the shelf. Either product is very time consuming to use and prep is super important for good results.

Today, I am assembling the front axle. I am just slacking at the moment, Sunday and all.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Battery tray after POR15, the ugly red vacuum line is going away soon, OEM replacing it.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

The truck rides nice with the new TT shocks. The shocks that had been in it, while not toasted were originals or at least original brand, Tokico. Same goes for the steering damper. The TT upgrades were big improvements to how this truck drives.


Brakes work outstanding too!

Finishing up a few things on the interior today and then this truck will have to wait for the next round of work on it, which will likely be the last round for me. I have an FJ40 project for a client I need to start cranking on. Big build in the works for that truck, a whole lot more axle work for me.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Flexed the truck up today just to check everything out.

Front shocks definitely limit droop. Been awhile since I have played with leaf springs for flex purposes. Compression wise it looks like bump stops before full compression on the shock which is good. The rear flexes good with no shock limiting of the suspension.

Leaf springs can be made to work very good for flex off road and on road performance but it takes some work and customizing. To get the most out of it an off the shelf shock can't really be used and custom shock towers often need to come into play too. Anyways, I am rambling now but the point is the front end on a 70-series can easily be made to flex nicely it is just going to take more work than I am putting into this truck.

As far as tires and flex goes, zero issues!

I got a major leaf spring build I am starting now on an FJ40 so it will be fun to play with leaf springs again, like I say been awhile.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

My 1PZ just passed emissions with flying colors, 39 points under the standard!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

A browse through Best Buy today netter me these.

It was an impulse buy and they are cheap. Sound alright though.

Here are the oil relief valves. I think these are the same in a 1HZ.

At a local fab shop the other day, they are building an 80-series with the new R2.8 from Cummins. I am interested because I got a real nice locked cloth interior 80-series with a bad motor waiting for an engine. Planning to go diesel vs v8 but have not decided 1HDT/1HZ-T vs R2.8 yet.

Great little diesel I think for a 70-series too.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

So when I bought this truck the steering wheel was in good condition. It showed what I would call "actual miles" in terms of wear and tear. However, it was not cracked or separating from the steel center. 28yrs in the same climate, this is not the first item on this truck I have noticed doesn't like a change in climate after 28yrs.

So after a few months here with me in Boise, winter months mind you, the steering wheel started to crack and separate from the steel center. It has gotten progressively worse since about the first of the year. It is nothing new to me really, I have seen this same thing on many a 60 or 80-series. The older trucks it is a different kind of cracking and separation but still happens. People always rave about dry climate desert truck, well to this I say, go find yourself a 1980 FJ40 that has lived it's entire life in Arizona. Tell me how the rubber and any plastic parts look on it. Ya, I thought so! I been around old trucks a bit, not my first rodeo.

So any ways back onto the subject of my steering wheel. I have actually worked in and owned a restoration shop so have dealt with and learned about steering wheel resto in the past. I have also read some threads here about it on the 70-series. There are specific products out there you can buy, resins/epoxies, for this job but they would cost more and be more involved. You can also still get a new OEM steering wheel in brown, albeit not the 2-spoker but a 3-spoker which I think looks real good and is from this 1990's era of 70-series. I just don't like the $500 price tag! I am also not a big fan of any aftermarket steering wheels (which could cost more than OEM if you went wood/leather) unless it is in something like my rock crawler. I decided for this truck and for my method to be a "refurbish" of the steering wheel. Notice I am not calling it a restore, just a refurbish.

I went for the cheap method. I bought a FJ62 Wheelskin steering wheel cover from SOR in dark brown. I test fit it and it fit's like a glove. Rather than just slap it on and call it good I went ahead and decided to do the Gorilla Glue refurbish first. I used normal clear GG.

First, I drilled small holes on the back side of the wheel.

I read on here about people using a syringe or similar to inject the glue into the wheel. I gave it a try.

It works but honestly it is super slow going and to me sucked. So I just tried the GG nozzle pushed hard into a hole and then squeeze.

This worked a lot better and faster but of course was messier. I went and filled as much into the holes as it would take. Enough so that the holes on either side of the hole I was filling would start to overflow.

I then left it sit to cure.

More to come!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

I also decided to go ahead and coat the outside of my steering wheel with the GG. I would never have done this or tried it if I didn't have the Wheelskin ready to go on after. As you can see in this pic, my wheel was cracking rather badly. If you can believe it or not, this is like 3-4 months from no cracks to this simply by changing the climate the truck has lived in. I am not surprised but I wasn't happy!

I covered the entire outside of the wheel with the GG, filling all the cracks.

Now I am letting it cure.

So I am pretty happy with the results so far. It is nearly cured and is setting up well. No more sloppy urethane on top of steel. And it shouldn't start falling off now either. Tomorrow I am wrapping it with the new Wheelskin. Pretty sure I am going to be stoked with the results! This is about my 7th or 8th Wheelskin install so that should go fast. If I like this "refurbish method" I will probably use it on more of my trucks since this is a common problem on trucks over 25yrs old be 70, 60, 80-series or whatever!

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Another "refurbish" I am working on......


So again, when I bought the truck the brakes were all good. I did not know I had stripped out mounting holes on the knuckles for the front calipers, that I found when I tore the front end down. Any ways, I went through all that and have fixed it up to just about the max. However, ever since the first time I tore into the brakes last July they have never been what they were when I bought it or what they should be. In Latin America I had it all torn apart and the M/C was dry more than once while I worked on it. I bled it a few times down there but still had the same issue. Here is the issue....

Under very light braking the pedal sometimes goes to the floor. I was sure this was due to air in the lines, since it had not done this since after I cracked it open. I bled it and I bled it some more and then after it was up here in the USA I bled it some more. The problem has not gone away. I was contributing it to a vacuum leak because it seemed like it would do it the most often when I first started the truck and it was cold. Perhaps I thought, before it has built any vacuum, although this just didn't seem like it was or could be the issue. The odd thing to me was that the vacuum actuated 4wd worked excellent and was in and out fast which indicates no vacuum leak. Learning about this vacuum system on the 1PZ/1HZ engine it seemed like there could be a leak with all these vacuum lines so still I pursued a vacuum leak. First I thought perhaps the vacuum reservoir was leaking down from a bad check valve. I replaced the check valve. Next, I wondered could it be the booster? Nah, because a bad booster is a hard pedal not a soft one which is my problem. It could be a bad line, leaking but man I been over all the lines a dozen times with a fine toothed comb! No leaks and I have new lines in varies locations too.

I finally have come to the conclusion it is the master cylinder. What happens is under light braking the brake fluid leaks past the cups. When I brake any harder than light the cups flare out and the fluid doesn't leak past. The cups are getting so old they are needing to be replaced. Even if they were changed once and the M/C rebuilt, 14yrs out of a M/C is good to me, 28yrs even way better! I feel like now I am 99% sure this is the issue. So, I have a new OEM M/C in route to me. Let's see if I am right in the next week or so!




Separate topic. My A/C compressor has worked flawless since I got this truck. Everything about it has been good from the idle up to the switch to the actual cold output temp. However, a few weeks ago I noticed it is leaking down onto the alternator. Obviously the casing is leaking. So I went and ordered up a new OEM re-seal kit for it. I was a little worried since it is still R12. My first call around town on this subject had me not so stoked. They can evac the R12 and re-seal my compressor but they got no more R12. I may not have enough to re-fill even if we capture all the R12 since I have had a leak. I haven't lost much, but still, a consideration and possible issue if I have this shop do it. They can get a keg of R12, I got to pay for it at like $1600! Haha, ya right! They can retro fit this truck to not run on R12, cost is well over $1,000. No thanks!

So, I call around. Bingo, local shop still has some R12. So that is it, evac my R12, re-seal the compressor and fill with new R12. Happy happy! The pulley on my compressor must have started separating some years ago. It was repaired by some tac welds on the pulley to keep it from separating anymore. Works fine actually but is a bit ugly so I decided to finish off this A/C work with an install of a complete new pulley and magnetic switch assembly. I figure, what the hell why not, this has lasted 28yrs and been repaired once.

Ya, the OCD is in full effect for me on this truck. That is just how I do things and it makes me content. For me, that is all that matters, not what anybody else in the world thinks or how they would do it, just how I feel about it. I seem to do alright with my trucks! Plus I believe rebuilding or as I call it sometimes "refurbishing" these trucks was built into the engineering. I am not a strong believer in the whole 20-25yr life Toyota engineered it for and then it is dead. These trucks can always be rebuilt until there is no more parts to rebuild them and the parts needing repair are broken beyond repair. And even then you can retro fit other parts! Guess I came from a world of super rare super hard to get parts for trucks before Cruisers. As such even something like this 1PZ 70-series is a breeze. Try and do a frame off nut & bolt restoration back to 100% original & stock on a 1964 Nissan Patrol soft top! Which by the way only 950 were ever sold here and Nissan changed the trucks every 18-24 months! Now that is a real challenge! These 70-series to me are just plain fun and easy in comparison to something like that.



Cheers